de roda



April 22, 1947. P, DE RO A 2,419,444

KITE

Filed Oct. 3, 1944 INVENTOR. N/C/INOE R DE ROD/I.

ATTOENEK Patented Apr. 22, 1947 UNITED STATES? PATENT OFFICE,

21Claimse This invention relates to improvements in kites generally,"and particularly-to the-construction;

Ahotlienolo'ject' -of the -invention is to provide in tY-ieaforedscribed structure a reinforcing arrangement whereby-the middleandmain' portions are sub"stantially rigidly held with one another? andwherein the reinforcements employed for that purpose extend beyond thefront edge of the main *portion 4 to 4 support the 1 front por tion orfront" element equipped with vibratory sound producingmeans.

A still further 1 object ofthe resent-invention 15 w provid witlf themain body of 'th'edevice, highly resilient edgereinforcing: members-soconstructed that their -maj or :porti'onsassume a poprotecting the.structure in lateraldirection againse shock" andda'mage; whereas-theirend portions are twisted =gradually co assume-='a'position vertica l tothemain body; whereby the ends oi the latter become strong andhighlyresilient: ion protectiomagainst' breakage when' the device.should accidentally land upon one or the other- The foregoinggand stillfurthenimportant objects and advantages of the present'invention willbecome more fully apparent from the ensuing description in combinationwithtlieaccompanying drawings;: wherein:

Fignlis a plan view of the kite, in accordance.

withthe present invention,-witlrthe left-portion thereofiparti allyuncoveredltoexpose theaframe structure thereof EligiHmisi-Jasdrontelevation oft-:the device}; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the endconstruction of the sound producing element of the device;

2. Fig. 4'is a side view of the main Voricentral-res inforcing member of"J the kite Fig. 5 is a side view of the resilient edge reinw forcingmember of the IdBViCB; and a Fig." 6 "is a diagran'lmaticalside'elevati-on .oirthe device in" flight."

Referring nowi'specifically"to'the' figures; nu-: meral l denotestheicentral, .longitudina'l-reine forcement of the kite, to: which: "areattached'lat Il'andlZ edge reinforcing members I3 and;

such as shownindetailin Fig. 5, Theseredge: reinforcing 'members form.the supportiformaim body or'main portion" l; which is ."Of'i an oblong;

shape and'forms twowing planes with-substantially oval ends,- Thecentralreinforcingmemher. it] extends forwardof the main body and:attached thereto at "I 6 aretresilient'wing reinforcing members i l and18: These 'reinforcing mem-w bers are shaped similarlyto-themain'rreinforceement lDrin th'at'they are thicker; at therfrontal endandare graduallythinned 'dowrrtowards: their angularly'disposed'ends:I9, which latter extend" approximately to the longitudinal center of"the main body: The portions .of resilient'reinforcements I I and I 8 infront ofthe main body are covered with a=' suitable -material such as:paperor cloth-and they, together with the frontal portionofimainreinforcement 10; form the 'fIOII-F tal part or noseZll 'of-thekite;

Itwill'be observed-at the left-hand end 4of=the figure that edge"reinforcements I 3' and- I4 of the main" body extend-sidewise for: a:considerabledistance 'from central reinforcement lll 'and'lay in thehorizontal plane of themiddle' porti'on of the main" body, whereastheir' bowed, gradually reducing ends are" twisted "to-assume a verticalposition; as indicated-at l3" and 14' The thin 1 ends of'the bowedtermini of the edge zreinforce ments are rendered highlyresilientandi'are held togetherby cordzor other-flexiblemeansll: Thecord ends'areknottedtogether-at 2| to-a Iongitudinal central cord "22; which latter,connects' the-end joints of the-bowedtermini in longitudtnal direction.In order to stabilize-'the-position ofrnain cord :22 thereareprovided;cords423-arranged in'the shapeof adiamondr These cordsareattachedr-at 24 main cord 4-22 and: are se-rcured at "points: i l v andI2 to both 'the centralv reinforcingemember Ill as "Well? as to thethick, center 7 portions 24 0fthe edge reinforcements Frontal portion:20,0f .-the kite includes; iaesound' producing element which consists-ofanbowa 25 secured with its center at point I I to frontal edgereinforcement I l and longitudinal reinforcement ID. The upwardly swungends of the bow are held in position by cords 2B and 21. Cords 26 extendrearward and are connected at point 12 to the main frame and rear edgereinforcement l3, whereas cords 2! are secured near the front tip ofcentral reinforcement l at 21 from where they extend rearwards to thepoints of attachment with the bow ends. At the ends of the how areprovided seat members or saddles 28, over which are swung the endportions of an elastic band 29. That band is adapted to produce a soundwhen the device passes through a current of air.

Extending from the rear edge of main body I is the kite middle portion30. The latter consists of an edge reinforcement 3| in the form of a bowwhich is centrally attached at 32 near the end of main reinforcement l0,whereas its legs are held in bowed position by end cords 33 and middlecords 34. In order to stabilize the rear end of main reinforcement l0there are provided connecting cords 35 which extend from points 36serving also as attaching points of end cords 33.

The rear or tail portion 36 of the device is formed by a pair of flaps31 which are secured along one edge to bow 3|, whereas the rest of theirbodies are entirely free. They are intended to stabilize the device inflight.

The entire framework of the main and middle portions is covered by asuitable material such as paper or cloth, and the same material isemployed to form flaps 31. It is preferred that the rounded end edges ofthe main body are reinforced by the covering, as indicated at 38, andthat longitudinal main reinforcement is also covered as indicated at 39.Similarly the cord or string members connecting the framework arepreferably secured to the covering by suitable patches as indicated at40.

Referring now to Fig. 6, it will be observed that at points II and 12are secured the ends 4| and 42 of a guide cord 43 by means of which thedevice is launched and held in its flying position.

Due to the particular construction of edge reinforcements l3 and M themajor position of the main body will be substantially horizontal, whilethe wing ends become somewhat bowed in upward direction, whereby-aneffective supporting surface for the device in flight is provided.Middle portion 30 also serves as supporting surface in longitudinaldirection, whereas flaps 31 of the rear or tail portion form stabilizingmeans for the kite under ordinary flight conditions.

Particular attention is directed to the vertically twisted endreinforcements of the main portion, which not only serve for elevatingthe wing surfaces of the main body, but form resilient end structures,which, when the device lands sidewise, will protect it from seriousdamage. A similar protection is afforded by the front and rearextensions of the longitudinal main reinforcement 10, so that when thedevice falls front or rear point first, the ends of member 10 willabsorb the shock of the impact.

The frontal part of the device is made heavier than the middle and rearportions. This is due to the fact that in the first place mainreinforcement II] is made heavier toward the front, and additionally bow25, secured to frontal reinforcement l4, increases the weight. Thisincrease in weight at the front end of the device is still furtheraugmented by the arrangement of the wing reinforcements I1 and 18. Inconsequence of the front part of the device being heavier than the rearportion, the tendency of the device, when falling, will be to come downwith the front end first. Thus the possibility of damage to the devicebecomes considerably minimized.

Attention is also directed to the seat members or saddles 28 for thesupport of sound cord 29. During flight the sound cord is subjected toviolent vibrations which in time would affect the ends of the bowmaterial. It is preferred therefore to provide the ends over which soundcord 29 is strung with substantial reinforcements in the form ofcylindrical blocks made of material sufflciently strong to withstand therubbing effect produced by cord 29.

While the drawings illustrate a specific construction of the presentinvention, it is to be understood that slight variations and changes inthe arrangement of reinforcements, tie cords and the grouping of thedifferent sections of the device may be made, without departing from thescope of the invention, as defined in the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. A kite structure comprising a frame-like frontal part or nose andplanes-forming main,

middle and rear portions, the latter three portions.

constituting continuations of each other, said main portion having sidewings extending beyond the width of the middle and rear portions, acentrally disposed longitudinal reinforcing member for the frontal partand the main and middle portions and comprising a tapered element largerand heavier at its front end and reducing in thickness and weight towardits rear end, the front end of said element extending beyond the nose,its reduced, substantially lighter rear end projecting beyond the middleportion, said main portion having edge reinforcements comprisingelements tapering toward both ends and having a relatively thick centralenlargements, the tapering ends being twisted from a horizontal to avertical position, flexible means connecting the Vertically positionedends of these edge reinforce ments, a bow supported by and centrallysecured to the frontal edge reinforcement of the main portion andbeingheld at substantially a right-angular position relative to saidfrontal reinforcement by frontal cords secured to the forwardlyextending, large end of the central rein forcing member and byrearwardly extending- REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS in the Number Name Date 121,056 Maddaus Nov. 2-1,1871 1,762,551 Gambito June 10, 1930 2,035,730 Trevor Mar. 31, 19361,632,822

Dahl June 21, 1927

